For those of you who have installed Stoptech brake pads, what differences have you noticed compared with the stock pads? Is there any drawback with the Stoptech pads? My brake pads are wearing out soon and I am considering if upgrade is worth the money or not.

acumenhokie

03-09-2013 09:24 AM

Most of us that have upgraded the pads have gone with Hawk pads. There are plenty of reviews on the site. I don't remember anyone saying they had gone with Stoptech. Hopefully someone chimes in. If not you can be our pioneer. :)

seiyafan

03-09-2013 09:30 AM

I don't autocross so I am just looking forward something that's slightly better than the stock pads, and that it doesn't squeak, has low dust, and friendly to rotors. :)
Currently I am leaning towards the posi quiet series pads.

acumenhokie

03-09-2013 09:44 AM

Just want to make sure you realize that any upgraded pad is going to be more dust. My Hawks squeaked off and on for the first month or two but haven't done it in a while.

BigDave

03-09-2013 10:21 AM

I'm on my second set of Stoptech Street Performance pads. I switched to Stoptech when I started tracking my car (installed SS brake lines and switched to ATE Super Blue fluid at the same time). I got about 20k miles out of the first set which included 8 - 10 track days.

The Street Performance pads definitely throw off more dust than stock. They didn't squeak at all until they got near the end of their lifespan (under 4mm). Once under 4mm they started to squeak a bit under moderate braking.

The positives are that they stop the car much better than stock - good initial bite (without being too aggressive) and very linear stopping power throughout the pedal stroke. Also, I can get 5 - 7 good laps out of them (at Chuckwalla Valley Raceway) before they start to fade (on stock calipers). Stock pads were useless (and I could smell them burning) on the second lap. A full set of Street Performance pads in stock sizes runs about $120 on (edited out non-supporting site) so they are quite reasonably priced as well.

Hopefully this helps...

Gborja888

03-09-2013 10:28 AM

I have got Stoptech street performance brake pads installed on both front and rear in my 2010 leggy JDM version. I ordered mine from rallysportdirect.com. I can immediately felt the big difference, the stopping performance has significantly improved when compared with the OEM one. Although for the first few week I could see, there are definitely lot more dust on my rim, it tooks probably two months before the dust was reduced. I've been using them for more than a year and so far no squeaking and it is rotor friendly.

sschmelcke

03-09-2013 11:21 AM

I have stoptechs coming along with my sti brembo calipers in a week or two. I will never use hawk again. I hated them

Sleepr56

03-09-2013 11:25 AM

I switched from Hawk to StopTech on my old STi and I was very happy with the change. Plenty of cold stop bite, less noise then the hawks, dust was marginally better or the same.

I'd buy them again.

Rutchard

03-09-2013 02:18 PM

For those who didn't like the Hawks, care to elaborate on what compound you were using? I've loved my Hawk HPS for autox and DD duty...

seiyafan

03-09-2013 05:25 PM

Now a separate but related question. Upgrade to SS brake lines costs about as much as the pads, if this is purely a daily drive, should I skip this upgrade? How much improvement will it have on braking?

sschmelcke

03-09-2013 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rutchard
(Post 4331693)

For those who didn't like the Hawks, care to elaborate on what compound you were using? I've loved my Hawk HPS for autox and DD duty...

I used the HPS. They were noisy, lasted under 20k and were horrible when not warmed up. Then again I haven't found a brake pad I really liked yet. Hoping the stoptechs change my mind. I've just been using oem pads for the 3-4 sets.

Sleepr56

03-09-2013 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rutchard
(Post 4331693)

For those who didn't like the Hawks, care to elaborate on what compound you were using? I've loved my Hawk HPS for autox and DD duty...

Like above, noise and initial bite of the HPS vs. the StopTech's were my biggest complaint.

Same when I ran them on the Slaaaaab :spin:

Rhett

03-09-2013 07:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sschmelcke
(Post 4331576)

I have stoptechs coming along with my sti brembo calipers in a week or two. I will never use hawk again. I hated them

Can you please keep me/us posted on what you are doing with your brakes upgrade. I will most likely be following in your footsteps when my day comes.